OBAMA SIGNS SEQUESTRATION TRANSPARENCY ACT -- In yet another revolution of the spinning wheel of the never-ending sequester standoff, the president has approved a law that gives his administration a month to detail what would happen if the sequester were to take effect. This opens the possibility that a report could surface around Labor Day to remind everyone of the high stakes involved.

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McKeon welcomes the signature with a backhanded statement: “Within 30 days, the commander-in-chief will have to do what this committee, the Secretary of Defense, and our commanders around the world began doing a year ago -- face the catastrophic consequences of the cuts he signed into law.”

Praise for the bill also comes from at least one member of the president’s own party: Washington Sen. Patty Murray, co-chair of the failed supercommittee, said the law would “make sure that every member of Congress and the public understands the impact of sequestration, as well as the need to replace both the defense and non defense cuts in a balanced and bipartisan way.”

The Obama administration has maintained all along that is can’t “plan” for automatic, across-the-board budget reductions -- the whole point is that everything gets sliced evenly. OMB chief Jeffrey Zients recently told HASC members they still have five months to avert sequester and that reports or plans or warnings are just wasted effort. “I would suggest our energy, our time, is much better spent through deficit reduction than trying to massage numbers we all agree will have a devastating effect on defense and domestic programs," Zients said. Here’s POLITICO’s full coverage of the bill signing: http://politi.co/QepKAd

McCASKILL GETS HER WISH: SHE’LL FACE AKIN -- HASC Republican Todd Akin won a three-way GOP primary yesterday for the chance to challenge SASC Democrat Claire McCaskill, who’s considered one of the most vulnerable senators going into the November elections. During the primary, McCaskill had promoted Akin, releasing an ad branding him a “true conservative” -- likely because she felt he was the weakest of her three possible opponents. POLITICO’s David Catanese and Alex Isenstadt have more here: http://politi.co/NCLEfy

FIRST LOOK: A ‘SEA-CHANGE’ IN STATE-DEFENSE COOPERATION -- Andrew Shapiro, assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs, will make the case that there’s been a “sea-change” in the relationship between the State and Defense departments under the Obama administration. Speaking at 10:30 a.m. at CSIS, Shapiro will call relations between the two departments “the best they have ever been,” according to prepared remarks obtained by Morning D.

“In previous administrations -- both Republican and Democratic -- relations between the two departments were often characterized by suspicion and distrust,” Shapiro will say. “The cooperation between the State Department and the Pentagon is truly unprecedented and I think this will be remembered as one of Secretary Clinton’s lasting legacies.”

TRIVIA TIME -- Nixon announced his resignation on this day in 1974. Name the North Carolina Senator who led the Senate Watergate Committee, which televised its hearings on the scandal that brought down the president. For the answer, read on.

NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS GOVERNOR TOUTS McCAIN SUPPORT FOR SHIPYARD -- Gov. Benigno Fitial is pushing for support among SASC members for legislation to include the Northern Mariana Islands as an eligible location for a new shipyard to service U.S. ships in the Pacific -- a plan that has drawn support from McCain and other Republicans, according to a press release from the governor’s office. And if the Democratic-controlled committee won’t support the shipyard plan in this Congress, Fitial is hopeful that a Republican-controlled committee might support it in the next. “If Republicans take control of the Senate and retain control of the U.S. House, the CNMI stands to finally get the congressional assistance it deserves as members of the American political family,” the press release says.

KING ‘TIRED’ OF MEDIA BASHING LEAKS BILL -- The House Homeland Security chairman had some tough words for the Fourth Estate yesterday, accusing reporters of “putting their own parochial interests ... ahead of the national interest.” The New York congressman encouraged his colleagues on the Senate side not to give in to pressure from the media to drop their leaks bill, which would require intelligence officials to disclose their contacts with journalists.

“The media has its own agenda,” King said on Fox News. “We’ve seen what the media has done. The New York Times has put secrets on page one. The New York Times doesn’t care about American security on these issues. That is yellow journalism at its worst. I hope that Sen. [Dianne] Feinstein and the Republicans on the committee and in the Senate stand tough on this and don’t give in.” POLITICO’s Tomer Ovadia has the story: http://politi.co/TcSflP

HAPPENING TODAY: TRILATERAL NAVAL EXERCISES -- The United States, Japan and South Korea are teaming up for exercises off the coast of Hawaii, U.S. Pacific Fleet announced in a press release. “Events such as this are a part of a larger effort to strengthen our alliances and partnerships,” the release says. What the release doesn’t say: The exercises are also meant to send a message to what Panetta refers to as “rising powers” (and the rest of us refer to as “China”).

ANCHORS AWAY FOR LCS 3 -- The Navy’s third littoral combat ship, the USS Fort Worth, left its shipyard for the final time on Monday, Lockheed Martin announced. It’s en route to Galveston, Texas, for its commissioning there Sept. 22. Despite a series of problems with the first ship in the class, the USS Freedom, Navy officials said this spring they were pleased with the performance and finish of the new Fort Worth.

LIEBERMAN: ARM THE SYRIAN REBELS -- The Connecticut senator yesterday reiterated his stance that the United States should provide military assistance to rebel fighters in Syria, saying “it would really help tip the military balance on the ground and bring the conflict to a quicker end.” Lieberman explained on “CBS This Morning” that he wouldn’t want “to see American troops on the ground,” but that he’s “open” to using U.S. air power to help set up safe zones. More here: http://cbsn.ws/N0F4ph

IRAN SAYS IT’S HOLDING THE UNITED STATES RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FATE OF 48 IRANIAN HOSTAGES captured over the weekend by Syrian rebels in Damascus. Rebels say the hostages are Iranian militiamen, while Iran says they’re religious pilgrims. NYT has the story: http://nyti.ms/RlBx3Y

State Department: It’s not our problem. Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said the U.S. government wants all prisoners treated humanely but that the U.S. is not responsible for the fate of the 48 Iranian hostages. “We cannot confirm the identity of those reported to be kidnapped,” Ventrell said. The Cable’s Josh Rogin has more: http://bit.ly/ONfWAY

HAARETZ: IRANIAN NUCLEAR PROGRAM ADVANCING FASTER THAN EXPECTED -- Citing “Western diplomats and Israeli officials who asked not to be named,” the Israeli newspaper reports that Iran “has made greater progress on developing components for its nuclear weapons program than the West had previously realized.” More here: http://bit.ly/TbZzyb

WHO’S WHERE WHEN --

9:15 a.m.: Gen. C. Robert Kehler, head of U.S. Strategic Command, speaks at the 2012 USSTRATCOM-hosted Deterrence Symposium in La Vista, Neb.

11 a.m.: Andre Gudger, director of the Pentagon’s office of small business programs, participates in a webinar on potential changes in small business defense contracting.

-- “Army corps seeks renewable energy,” by POLITICO’s Darius Dixon: “The Army Corps of Engineers on Tuesday issued a long-awaited request for $7 billion in renewable energy proposals for powering Army bases. The request for proposals would create a way for the Army to use renewable energy, but wouldn’t put it in the position of getting into the business itself. ... Contractors that are eventually selected by the corps will finance, build, own and maintain the power plants supplying energy to the bases on power-purchase agreements as long as 30 years. The contractors will be invited to build the facilities on federal lands.” More here, for energy Pros: http://politico.pro/QerwS9

-- “Top tester pans Army’s intelligence system,” by The Washington Times’ Rowan Scarborough: “The Army’s intelligence processing software that was developed to help soldiers in Afghanistan understand the enemy and predict future actions suffers from ‘poor reliability’ and is ‘not survivable’ against cyber attacks, the service’s top tester said in a confidential memo to the Army chief of staff. The highly critical Aug. 1 report on the Distributed Common Defense System comes as the Army is under fire for making it difficult for commanders in Afghanistan to buy a competing software platform called Palantir. Soldiers say its analysis helps them find buried improvised explosive devices (IEDs), the top killer of U.S. troops.” http://bit.ly/P569Hv

TOP TWEET(S): Petraeus for VP?

-- WaPo’s Chris Cillizza: “I will say that one very credible GOPer told me late last week Petraeus was in the VP mix.”‏@TheFix

-- NBC’s Andrea Mitchell: “Sources close to Gen David Petraeus laugh off Drudge report he is a Romney veep possible - #notgonnahappen” @mitchellreports

DID YOU KNOW ... Petraeus’ childhood nickname was Peaches? POLITICO’s Tim Mak has this and nine other fast facts about the CIA director: http://politi.co/ONeUm4

FROM THE INBOX -- MOAA President Norb Ryan Jr. responds to an item in Friday’s Morning D about a Pentagon policy that denies reproductive health benefits to U.S. troops whose genitals have been damaged in combat:

“The limitation on reproductive health benefits for veterans whose combat service left them with severe genital injuries isn’t something that ‘needs more study.’ It’s a service-caused inequity that needs to be fixed. The way to address the state law issue isn’t through regulations, but through a change in federal law. That’s why MOAA supports Sen. Patty Murray’s S. 3313 (which would make this coverage a VA benefit) and is seeking a sponsor for a companion bill in the House.”

TRIVIA ANSWER -- Sen. Sam Ervin led the Senate Watergate Committee. Ervin also led the committee that played a crucial role in the investigation of Joseph McCarthy. The History channel’s website has more: http://bit.ly/d6sqvK

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Authors:

About The Author

Austin Wright is a senior defense reporter based at the Pentagon covering budget, policy and national security issues. He has been with POLITICO since 2011 and was previously a web producer and author of the widely read newsletter Morning Defense.

Before POLITICO, Wright worked for National Defense magazine, interned at The Chronicle of Higher Education and taught sixth-grade English at Kramer Middle School in Washington.

Wright hails from Richmond, Va., and graduated in 2009 from the College of William and Mary, where he was editor of the student newspaper, The Flat Hat. He lives in Northern Virginia with his wife, Leanne, and their dog, Kernel.